


The Dawn Will Come

by beautiful_as_endless



Series: Heneral Luna x Camp Half Blood AU [1]
Category: Heneral Luna (2015), Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-30
Updated: 2015-12-11
Packaged: 2018-05-04 04:40:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5320814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beautiful_as_endless/pseuds/beautiful_as_endless
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They were not just any heroes. They were children of the gods. This is how they found their path.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lightning and Thief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Antonio's introduction, part 1 of 2.

He wasn’t sure if he was ever going to stop running. The damp, dark streets of Manila were not fit for a ten-year-old child to roam in, but did he have a choice? He had nowhere else to go to. The rest of his family were on their way to La Union and he was half-praying to whatever god still listened that none of them decided to look for him. It was better this way, he reflected as he discarded a badly damaged steel bat that he once used against the nightmarish creatures that have been relentlessly pursuing him for the past three weeks.

It wasn’t like he knew what they were exactly. He knew that there were the truck-sized black dogs that smelled like some lung-searing substance, and those one-eyed giants that once tried to crush his head with their wooden clubs. Stealing some chemicals from a warehouse to make them go boom did not work at all.

He half-hoped that he would somehow bump into his Kuya Juan who was still sent off to some far-off school or another.

Midnight as rolling on as he was hiding behind some balikbayan boxes in an abandoned alley, eating that discarded-but-still-good sandwich that he nabbed from a nearby restaurant. It was supposed to be a lovely April evening but thunder rumbled above him and rain splashed against his unprotected little body. He heard a quiet rustling behind him and saw a slender girl with curly black hair staring at him from atop a fence. She was maybe a year or two younger than him, but she had the same hungry, homeless look that he was sure he had. She was dressed in baggy jeans that were most probably four sizes too big for her, and basketball shorts.

She smiled at him and she seemed to flicker when she leapt off the fence. Before he could react, the girl was already running away from him, his half-eaten dinner in her hands.

“Hey!” he called out.

The girl was small and lithe, and had a greater headstart than him. It wasn’t that hard to find her as he heard her shouting in anger just a few minutes later.

He found her surrounded by a pack of those monstrous black dogs. The food she stole from him was lying on the ground, while she herself had a pocket knife in hand. “Why won’t you guys just _stay_ dead, huh?” she roared.

The dogs growled at her and pounced. She leapt to the side, dodging two, but the third got in her way. She whipped up her knife and plunged it down its throat, sending it reeling back and melting into dust – something that he already witnessed first hand five days ago. Just like then, the creature quickly reformed, turning back into the snarling ball of darkness and fur that headed straight for the distracted girl’s throat.

 _“Punyeta!”_ He had nothing that he could quickly use against those monstrosities. He flung himself right at them, wrestling against the nearest black dog. His eyes welled up with tears as black claws raked against his skinny arm. “Can’t you monsters just stay dead?”

The black dog growled and he felt its hot breath against his neck. He shoved his fingers into its face and was surprised to see that vivid blue electicity crackled on his fingertips. The black dog reared back as he flicked the lightning right at it, sending it carreening backward as it slowly burned into black, immobile ashes.

He turned to see the girl running toward him, her figure apparently flickering every now and then. He grabbed her arm. “ _Tara,_ let’s run,” he told her.

She nodded and followed him through _eskinita_ after _eskinita_ until they stopped behind a closed _carinderia._ “You can see them,” she said in wonder. “Are you like me, then?”

He stared at her for a while. They looked nothing alike, him with his vaguely mixed Pinoy features. She looked more like a _Chinoy_ , with her complexion and those tilted eyes. He frowned as he observed her. “I don’t think we’re related, if you mean _that._ ”

“No, no,” the girl told him, agitated. “You can see them. _Alam mo na._ Those dogs. I tried to ask for help before when they first started appearing but – but – _punyeta_ the barangay officials didn’t believe me and laughed at me. It’s like… they can only see normal dogs or something. No one can see them like I did. Like _you_ did.” She paused and sized him up. “And you can do those amazing things too. Like when I try to sneak around. I’m hard to catch. And you can do that… electric thing.”

He considered her words for a quick minute. “We’re not normal, are we?”

The girl smiled smugly. “Nope, I don’t think so.” She held out a grubby hand. “Paulina Lim. You can call me Poleng.”

He smiled back. “Antonio Luna. Just call me Tonyo,” he said.

* * *

 

They’ve been travelling for days with the goat-man, the satyr called Fernando, who found them the day after he met Poleng. He didn’t really explain much aside from telling them what kind of _creature_ he was and describing the hellish dogs chasing after them as _hellhounds._ He told them about some special place where they would be safe, where they would understand what they were, but he refused to expound on that.

They’ve been on the run, hitching rides on buses as they ran away from some odd ladies with two snakes in place of their legs – dracaena – who tried to slice them to ribbons.

They finally reached a mountainous area – the Sierra Madre range, according to Fernando – and followed a trail that seemed to shimmer as they passed through it. Their vision swam and a small valley greeted them with a cluster of buildings greeted them.  Thirteen buildings shaped like a surrounded a bronze brazier that burned with a cheery fire even though it was midmorning.  A small dining pavilion that looked like a picnic area could be seen from their vantage point, alongside an old-school Spanish house that overlooked a small cliff abouve the thirteen buildings. A few other buildings surrounded the area, along with a small river to the east and a basketball court behind a hut that looked like it was made of _gold._

Fernando smiled at them. “Welcome to Camp Katipunan, kiddos. The director will be seeing you now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Alam ko nakita na ito ng mga tumblr lurkers and pahapyaw pa lang ito! Swear! As in gagawa ako ng isang buong intro fic para lang ipakita kung paano sila ma-claim! And yes! Poleng is here because I have so much feels for her. Enjoy~


	2. A Place of Greater Safety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Antonio reaches Camp Half-blood.

_The rain fell harder that night that he huddled under some cardboard boxes with Poleng. They smelled like dirt and dust and musk but neither of them cared. They were cold and scared, and they knew that the black dogs could attack them at any time. Tonyo wasn't sure that he would be able to use... his powers again._

_They were hungry and terrified and vulnerable, but they had to survive._

_They heard loud footsteps clip-clopping through the asphalt, and Tonyo grabbed the small bread knife that they found in a trash bin about half an hour ago. He and Poleng crouched under the boxes, trying to look as small and as insignificant as possible. Unfortunately he wasn't that good like his new companion in doing that._

_Someone... odd came to their line of vision. It looked like a teenager, maybe thirteen or fourteen, dressed in a black hoodie, its hood pulled up to hide most of his hair - though Tonyo could see two odd bumps that it outlined. His legs were another matter. The boy was either wearing very hairy pants or he had goat's legs._

_"You can see him too, right?" Poleng whispered._

_Tonyo nodded. "Stay behind me if he attacks."_

_Poleng rolled her eyes. "I'm not a little girl, you know."_

_The goat-boy sniffed the air and headed right in their direction. "Half-bloods... I can smell you from here," he said in a squeaky voice, as if he was barely past his puberty. "You can come out now. You're safe with me."_

_If there was one thing Tonyo learned during his days on the run, it was that nothing ever was really safe anymore._

_He gripped his bread knife and leapt right at the goat-boy with a roar. He held the knife to the creature's neck, seething with a mixture of desperation and fear. "Go away," he hissed. "Or else I will slit your throat."_

_The goat boy bleated. He definitely sounded like a goat. "I-I don't want to hurt you!" he said. "I-I'm just a satyr. I was assigned to be a protector for you."_

_"Me?" Tonyo asked._

_"Yes. Laureana Luna's son, right? We need to escort you to somewhere where it's safer for you." He flicked his palm and showed him a bracelet - a very familiar, customized, antique bracelet."Your mom contacted us."_

* * *

_They huddled beneath the cardboard boxes, him, Poleng, and the goat-boy who called himself Fernando. He gave them some sandwiches, as if he knew that they would be starving. "I didn't really expect you to find another half-blood," he said quickly._

_"You keep calling us half-bloods," Tonyo told him. "What do you mean by that?"_

_"I c-can't explain it here. It's too dangerous. But just trust me, okay?" Well, he hadn't killed them yet. He didn't seem capable of harming them at all, as a matter of fact. "Your mom had been in contact with the director since you were little and - er - she was alarmed when you ran away."_

_"So they sent a goat," Tonyo said in between chewing his sandwich. "What're you supposed to do, huh?"_

_Poleng snickered. "He's not exactly a goat. A half-goat?"_

_Fernando looked scandalized by them. "I'm a satyr. Surely you must have heard about a satyr!"_

_It took him an hour to explain what exactly a satyr is, but he refused to explain what he meant by half-bloods, claiming that it wasn't "safe" and that they needed to wait until the "director" explained it to them. He was kind enough to explain that the black dogs were called "hellhounds," at least._

* * *

 

Tonyo's eyes widened as they walked past the thirteen huts. They actually had nothing much in common aside from the fact that they were shaped like the traditional bahay kubo but in a larger scale.

One of them - aptly numbered Hut Thirteen - was actually made of black bricks and had skull-shaped neon green lanterns that glowed even though it was mid-morning. There was one that looked like it was made of grass, another that looked like it was made of mahogany, a pair that gleamed gold and silver, even a steampunk one. He also noted one that resembled a dollhouse. One was made of white wood but was splattered with red paint, as if to resemble blood. A  _baboy damo's_ head hung from the door. One was also whtiewashed and had owl statuettes at the entrance.

At the very end of the area were a pair of huts that were made of marble - they looked like his-and-hers type of buildings, one being more showy and masculine and the other one being slender, more graceful. Holographic lightning seemed to flash on the surface of the larger one, while the other one had peacock feather designs.

Tonyo felt the hair at the back of his head prickle at the sight of the lightning.

A group of children ranging from ten to maybe fourteen or fifteen filled the area, dressed in red shirts that read **CAMP KATIPUNAN**. It took Tonyo a while to figure the words out even though they were in big, bold letters, as he was diagnosed with dyslexia in his first grade.

One of the boys from the dollhouse-styled house waved at him. He was pretty good-looking, though not in the conventional way. He flashed Tonyo a cheeky-looking grin.

"That's Pepe Rizal, son of Aphrodite," Fernando drawled. "Not a bad kid to keep for company, despite his siblings' reputation."

Tonyo didn't even know who this Aphrodite was, so he just kept a neutral blank look on his face. "Oh."

"What's Camp Katipunan, anyway?" Poleng asked, glaring at one of the beefy girls standing by the white-and-red cabin who was sticking out her tongue at her. "Why are they... segregated?"

"You'll find out soon enough," the satyr said.

They passed through more kids in red, satyrs, and pointy-eared girls. Some of them were playing on the basketball, volleyball, and badminton courts. Some were heading to something that Fernando called the "sparring field," and yet another group were in the nearby river, swimming and learning how to paddle on boats.

"What  _is_ this place?" Tonyo asked.

Fernando shrugged. "I told you, it's Camp Katipunan. It's a place where half-bloods like you will be safe."

Poleng shook her head, looking confused. "I don't understand. Why are you calling us half-bloods? Is it because my mama is part-Chinese?"

"But my mommy and daddy are Filipinos," Tonyo argued. "So it can't be that."

Fernando gave them sidelong glances, as if he knew something that they didn't. He pointed to the four-storey Spanish-style house atop the small cliff. "I think the director would be able to explain it better than me. Come on."

It took them a good ten minutes to hike up the small cliff. A few of the campers followed them to the end of the trail but kept their distance as they reached the small porch. A man in a wheelchair waited for them beside the door.

This stranger was sturdily-built despite his apparent disability, dressed smartly in a crisp white dress shirt while a thick blanket covered his legs. His skin was a dark bronze, as if he spent all day under the sun, and his shoulder-length hair was tied back in a simple ponytail.

"I thought you were only bringing Laureana Luna's son," he noted idly, setting down the book he was reading.

"He... attached himself to another half-blood," Fernando told him cheekily. "Both unclaimed, as of now."

"Everything will be made clear to us tonight, one way or another," the man said with a smile. He turned to the duo. "Hello, young heroes. I am the camp director, Lapu-Lapu."

Poleng snorted. "Like the fish?"

Tonyo remembered his third-grade history class. "No, Lapu-Lapu is that guy who killed... Majanny or Majelly or Majinbuu something like that."

"Yes, I was named after him," the camp director agreed. "Anyway, it seems like you have a lot of questions about this place. I suggest that you watch the orientation video so that you'll understand everything better, okay?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dapat two parts lang yung intro ni Tonyo pero medyo napahaba hehe.


	3. The Son of the Sky God

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Luna is claimed.

"No! That's impossible! I can't be the son of a Greek god," Tonyo yelled as he stormed out of the orientation room. My  _papa_ is Joaquin Luna and my  _mama_ is Laureana!" He headed straight for Lapu-Lapu and grabbed the crippled man by the collar. "You're lying!"

"Tonyo, don't!" Poleng barked behind him.

Of course he ignored her, stubborn as he was. "Why did you bring me here? Tell me the truth!"

Lapu-Lapu watched him placidly, as if he was anticipating this very moment. "I've been in correspondence with your parents since shortly after your sixth birthday, child. Laureana Luna is your mother, but Joaquin is not your father - though he has consented to give his name to you. Your father is one of the Greek gods. You are a demigod, Antonio, just like your friend Poleng."

"No. No, that can't be." It all went against everything Tonyo was raised to believe in. He sat down on the nearby couch, fighting off the angry tears that welled up in his eyes. "My  _papa_ loved me a lot."

"I'm sure he did, but you must face the truth." Lapu-Lapu drew to his full height, and it seemed like the wheelchair he was sitting on fell apart to reveal his actual legs - or a black horse's body attached to his torso. He was a centaur, just like the orientation video explained. "You are half-bloods, children of the Olympian gods."

"I want to know who my father is," Poleng said in excitement.

Tonyo sighed in defeat. "I want to punch my real father."

Lightning rumbled inside. "The Olympians are not pleased if you say that," Lapu-Lapu warned quietly. "Due to some... circumstances that the gods have been subjected to in the United States, all gods are now required to claim their children. No exceptions. You will be claimed by tonight, I'm sure of it."

He led the way out of the house, where most campers - half-blood children of the Olympians, all of them - were waiting for their group. Satyrs and tree spirits called Dryads hung at the edge of the gathering, whispering among each other. Lapu-Lapu raised his hands to silence them.

"Behold! Two demigods join our ranks today," he announced to the group. "Antonio Luna and Paulina Lim!"

"Claimed, or undetermined?" someone from the back of the red-clad demigods asked.

"Undetermined as of now." Lapu-Lapu regarded the hushed ranks of teens and pre-teens. "Isabel Rivera of the Dionysus Hut and Jose Rizal of the Aphrodite Hut, please step forward."

The two complied. Isabel was a tall girl about Tonyo's age, with perfectly-tanned skin and long black hair that was braided down her back. Her canted eyes locked on Tonyo, and he felt his knees go wobbly from fear. The slender boy, Pepe, was the one that Fernando pointed out to the newcomers on their way to orientation.

"I want you to show these two around the camp," explained Lapu-Lapu.

Isabel smiled and took Poleng's hand in hers - surprisingly, she was gentle despite her fierce appearance. "Come on, I'm sure we'll be good friends."

Pepe beamed at Tonyo. "You look quite sturdy. Maybe you're one of Ares' kids, huh?" he said.

"Ares? That big beefy fighter dude?" Tonyo asked, recalling everything he could about the orientation. He wouldn't mind a brawl, but he didn't want to live for the good fight.

"I wouldn't put it past him, looks like he's been through lots of fights," Pepe noted.

As soon as they were heading down the cliff, a pale gray haze suddenly flared above Poleng's head, showing a hologram of a winged staff that had two snakes intertwined around it. The campers, satyrs, and even the Dryads knelt down, as if in respect. Tonyo wasn't sure what was going on, but Pepe pulled him down to imitate them.

"Hail, Paulina Lim, daughter of Hermes, Messenger of the Gods," Lapu-Lapu called out.

 _Messenger... god of thieves, merchants, and traveling._ Tonyo's brow creased as he struggled to remember everything from the orientation video. No wonder Poleng was very stealthy. He wondered about the identity of his own father with a sour look in his face.

"I'm from the Aphrodite Hut," Pepe was explaining as he showed them the different huts. "My mom is the goddess of love and beauty so a lot of my siblings are good-looking and vain love nuts."

Tonyo raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you?"

Pepe smiled. "I can get any girl I want, Luna, but I've got no time for that now. My siblings are the least war-like of all cabins, on account of them prefering to groom themselves instead."

"Not you, though?" Tonyo pressed on.

"That's why I'm the councilor here even if I'm pretty young. I've got combat experience." Pepe smiled smugly.

"Don't be too cocky," Isabel snapped at the front of their group. "Dionysus Hut will pulverize you tomorrow at Capture the Flag."

"You're the only member of your Hut. No need to be cocky either," argued Pepe.

 _Dionysus, god of wine and parties._ As far as he could observe, Tonyo couldn't imagine Isabel being related to someone like that.

"Capture the Flag? That wasn't in the orientation." Poleng argued.

Pepe smiled. "You'll have to experience it first hand."

He showed them around the basketball and volleyball courts where a group of older kids were making perfect three-point shots.

Isabel narrowed her eyes. "Apollo's kids are always flashy show-offs. Their dad's the sun god but he's also the patron of archery so they've got excellent marksman skills."

They passed by the river where some boats were docked and the sparring field. There was also a garden of fruit-bearing trees that was tended to by some kind-looking kids. "Demeter's children. I'm better at making fruit-bearing plants grow while they do better with wheat and cereal and the like, but there's only one of me and I can't take care of each and every one of them."

"Besides, you prefer cracking skulls," Pepe muttered.

"The video wasn't clear on a few points," Tonyo mused as they climbed up the small hill with a big mahogany tree that overlooked most of the valley. Apparently it was the entrance to the camp's borders. "Why are we safer here? Why can we see the monsters but normal people can't? Why are they targeting half-bloods like us?"

"This is magically protected by the gods themselves. Regular mortals can't get in without permission from a camper or a camp director." Isabel plucked a few leaves from the tree and began to deftly fashion a wreath out of them. "The Mist... separates the world of the Greek gods from the mortal world. We can see through the Mist because we're demigods, though some gifted mortals can also see them. These monster hunting us find us... tasty, I guess. The scent grows the stronger a half-blood is, and the more aware they are of their legacy."

"I don't understand though. We're not Greek." Tonyo stared at the red-clad children who resumed their activities.

Pepe laughed. He sat on a rocky outcrop and peered at the people that waved at them. "We're half-Greek, I suppose. The Olympians followed the flame of the West - Greece, Rome, Spain, England, everything in between. Right now they're in the United States. I hear that they're mainly based in New York though of course they could be anywhere and everywhere in the world - including former American colonies like the Philippines. That's why there are lots of half-bloods here too."

"And we're one of them?" Poleng asked, eyes widening.

Pepe nodded. "We've got a lot to live up to - not only being the new generation of Greek heroes, but also because we came from the Philippines.  _Duyan ng magiting._ "

* * *

While Poleng ran off to join her siblings so that she could meet them before dinner, Tonyo was left standing in the middle of the hut area, wondering who his father could be. He still half-resented the man and still held on to the desire to strangle him.

A loud horn sounded somewhere in the dining pavilion, and the campers began to file out in droves from their huts. Isabel waved him over and he found himself jogging side by side with her.

"Still unclaimed, then?" she asked.

"Yeah. Think my real  _papa_ doesn't want me or something?" Tonyo asked, his anger worsening with every passing minute.

"Met my dad once," Isabel said calmly. "He wasn't a nice guy, but he still seemed pleased that we're related. He said he only had two other kids my age, and one of them died during some battle or another. Don't worry. Your dad might just have a flair for dramatics."

"So where's dinner?" Tonyo asked, trying to keep his thoughts off less pleasant things.

Isabel pointed to a nearvy pavilion where a number of tables were scattered around a brazier of fire. The smell of barbecue and sisig wafted through the air. "You're lucky that we don't have to eat with our cabinmates, unlike other demigod camps."

"Are you... going to sit with me, then?" Tonyo asked hopefully.

Isabel smirked. "No, Luna,  _you're_ going to sit with us."

The dinner tables were filled to the brim with local delicacies and empty cups. Isabel taught Tonyo how to whisper to the cups so that they would magically fill with any non-alcoholic drink he wanted - and about how to offer the best portion of their dinner to the burning brazier as tribute to the gods.

As soon as Tonyo flung his juiciest slice of barbecue to the brazier, a lovely, enticing smell filled the air. He could understand how the gods could live through the sent of the offeriings alone. He was about to pray for  _any_ sign from his father when he felt a sudden jolt down his spine. Blue light seemed to glow above him and he looked up. _  
_

A bright, holographic lightning bolt spun above him.

Mouths hanging open, the rest of the camp fell to their knees. Lapu-Lapu bowed his head. "Hail, Antonio Luna, Son of Zeus, Son of the Sky God!"

"I don't understand!" he gasped as he followed Isabel to the tables. "Why are you all staring atm e like that?"

"There's never been a son of Zeus here in the Philippines. And the last time Zeus had a kid overseas, we heard that she always got into trouble and was actually transformed into a tree for six years or something." Isabel shrugged as she took her seat beside three other girls - Oryang de Jesus from the Apollo Hut, Isa Magbanua from Ares Hut, and Poleng herself.

"So?" pressed Tonyo.

"Zeus' kids are very powerful. Only the children of Poseidon and Hades could rival them, you know. We call them the Big Three because they're the three brothers who split the world between them - the skies for Zeus, the sea for Poseidon, the earth and the Underworld for Hades." Isabel seemed to be a little uncomfortable with the fact. "Not that it matters since we rarely receive quests here in the Philippines, of course. Don't worry about it too much."

* * *

The Zeus Hut felt more like a church than a house, what with being made of marble and having some decorative pillars. A big statue of Zeus dressed in what looked like blankets. He was staring at the door, brandishing a lightning bolt.

Seeing the face of his dad just filled Tonyo with disappointment. As the king of the gods, somehow he expected more from Zeus - especially since a lot of people in the camp seemed to be expecting a lot from him now that he was technically some prince of the sky or something.

Not that he could do anything about it.

He sighed as he crawled into his bed and fell asleep immediately. It was a long day especially for a demigod.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Natagalaaaaan. Huhu.


	4. Little Steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paco loses everything... and discovers his legacy.

Life was good for ten-year-old Paco Roman. His father doted on him, taught him how to manage the tobacco farm business. He had everything he could ask for and more - aside from having a mother. His dad refused to talk much about his mom, aside from telling the child that she was beautiful, kind, and loved agriculture. The latter part wasn't important to Paco, but when he learned that she sang to plants to help them grow, he started doing it subconsciously whenever he was alone.

In his young eyes, life was always good. He really couldn't understand why most of his classmates didn't like him. He didn't mind fussing over them when they needed his help, and he often shared his lunch with the scholars from the local slums that his school supported.

Still, everyone stayed away from him.

In the eyes of a child, there was nothing wrong with being wealthy - and he unconsciously flaunted it despite his good intentions.

Life was good for ten-year-old Paco Roman until the day he arrived home to see his entire home on fire. Even the surrounding tobacco plantation was burning, and the smell of smoke permeated the air around him. He cried out for his father, for the workers that he knew and also practically raised him.

No one was there.

"Child, it would be better if you run," a tired woman's voice sighed behind him.

He turned to face the speaker - a tall, fair-skinned woman clad in a green and gold dress. A wreath of dried leaves rested upon her brow. She seemed to be in her early thirties at the most, sweet-faced and motherly. She didn't look  _foreign,_ but there was something... odd about her. Her eyes seemed to flicker between gold and brown as she approached him.

"It's dangerous here. Your father thought he could keep you hidden forever, but your scent is far, far stronger than that of your siblings," she lamented.

"W-who are you?" Paco asked. He didn't even dare voice out that he was an only child.

"You will know soon enough," the woman whispered. "Come with me, Francisco, they're looking for you."

Almost as soon as she said it, he heard loud, raucous laughter from somewhere in front of them. "Who are they?" he asked, half-driven to tears. "I can't just leave my dad."

"There's no saving him, Francisco," the woman said, her face echoing the child's sadness and fear. "You must follow me if you do not want to die like he did."

Tears began to stream down Paco's face. "What are you saying?" he asked.

"The empousai have slain him, child. Now come with me if you want to live." She held out her hand. "I will lead you to safety."

Everything went black as soon as he touched her hand.

* * *

_He had a strange dream._

_It was a rainy night, and he was standing in the middle of a foggy forest. He was running away from something that filled him with dread though he really had no idea what was going on. He could hear it calling out in a deep, feminine voice that sent him shuddering._

_"Francisco Roman, there's nowhere for you to hide. I know you will deliver them to me."_

_Lightning flashed, illuminating part of his way. With every burst that it brought forth, he also saw images of what looked like children who were the same age as he was. He tried to force himself to run faster, but it was futile. It felt like the fog around him was thickening._

_"There is no escape. The Fates have decided. You and your friends will be mine."_

_The ground seemed to rumble and shake as lightning struck near him, and the fog turned black, pressing against him, smothering him._

* * *

He woke up alone, lying on a soft, comfortable bed. At first he thought he was back home, waking after a terrible dream, but then he noticed that the walls around him were made of what looked like black stone and had no windows installed. There were soft dim lights shimmering on the ceiling, filling the entire room to the brim with a melancholic  glow.

He didn't feel sleepy or anything of the sort - as a matter of fact, he felt as alert as he was before he suddenly fainted. He should have been feeling afraid. After all, his dad drilled the importance of keeping himself safe from kidnappers since he was old enough to understand. There was an odd calmness in his heart instead. He was still filled with the grief for his father's murder and anger for the people who did it to him, but it  clashed with the feeling fo security that the place gave him.

There were faint voices that could be heard behind the dark wooden door to his right. He sat up, curiosity piqued.

The door opened, as if on cue. The strange woman from before stepped in, followed by a slightly younger woman in a flowery dress. This new woman looked like she could have foreign blood too, what with her hair being a noticeable shade of brown.

"Is this him,  _mother?"_ she asked the woman in green. Her face was completely neutral, but Paco had the feeling that she was reserving her judgement for him. A single word bugged his thoughts, though.  _Mother?_ They looked like they could be sisters instead.

"Persephone, don't startle the child," the older woman said. She turned to Paco with a look of concern upon her pretty face. "How are you feeling, Francisco?"

"P-please, ma'am," Paco began quietly. "Just call me Paco. It's how my dad called me."

"Paco, then. My name is Demeter." The woman smiled warmly at him, and there was something  _painfully_ familiar about it. "I'm very sorry about your father. He was a very kind and intelligent man, very passionate about the farming business."

Hope - bright, ridiculous hope - filled Paco to the brim, but the sudden thought that set it ablaze also terrified him. "You know my dad? A-are you my mother?"

The smile never left the woman's face. It was tired and sad, but it was genuinely loving. "I'm sorry, son, we're not really allowed to stay with our mortal children as a rule, aside from special cases."

"When you say mortal..." Paco said, remembering some of the books that he read in the library during one of his lonely lunch breaks. "What did you mean?"

Demeter sighed. "It would be better if I explain that while you eat your dinner. Come, Paco."

* * *

It felt like his brain was spinning from the story his  _alleged_ mother told him about. Gods - Greek gods - walked the earth, and his own mother was one. Apparently the other woman who accompanied them, Persephone, was his half-sister. He was stronger and more suited for combat compared to his mother's other children. Monsters could track him by scent - and did - which was how they found his dad and killed him.

"The outside world is no longer safe for you," Demeter finished sadly. "Alas, I cannot keep you with me at all times, especially now that your powers are about to bloom."

"My husband has a son," Persephone said thoughtfully. "He's about the same age as you."

"I told you he was good for nothing!" barked Demeter. "See? He went behind your back!"

Persephone bristled. "Mother! Eduardo is a very sweet and intelligent child. And if we keep him with us far longer, Lord Zeus is bound to notice. Maybe we could bring you two together to camp. How'd you like that?"

"Camp?" Paco asked, confused. "What camp."

"It's a camp for half-bloods like you.  _Demigods,_ " explained Demeter. "You'll meet your other half-siblings there, learn more about using your powers. You will be safer there than you are here in the outside world. Of course, a demigod's life will always be full of danger, but life in Camp Katipunan would be relatively more secure than having to fend for yourself out there."

"What  _is_ out there?" Everything was still difficult to wrap around his young mind.

"Monsters and the like," Persephone said sadly. "Unfriendly gods. We tried to keep Eduardo with us for the past six years and we can't keep him far longer - and he would desperately need a friend who's actually  _alive."_

"What do you mean?"

"My husband, his father, is the Lord of the Underworld and the Dead. He thinks that children's spirits would be enough to keep his son company. I believe otherwise. And this will also make sure that neither of you would be alone once you reach the camp." Persephone smiled. "Would you like that, little brother?"

Paco sighed. It sounded more like an order than a request, but he didn't mind. There was time to mourn his father later, when the two strange women -  _goddesses_ \- were not around.

"Yes, my lady. I would like that." Maybe meeting a someone who was similar to him - a child of a god! - would also help.

He just hoped that this Eduardo was not as terrifying nor vague like Persephone or Demeter. He just realized that he was also desperately eager for a new friend.


End file.
